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PARIS, November 23, 2009 (AFP) – A French court on Monday jailed 21 Tamil Tiger militants convicted of extorting millions of euros from the Tamil diaspora in France to fund their armed campaign in Sri Lanka. The toughest sentence of seven years in was given to Nadaraja Matinthiran, whom the court heard was the leader […]
Sri Lanka ex-military chief asks court to restore bodyguards
November 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former top army general Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to restore his security contingent which has been drastically scaled down following a spat with the president, officials said.General Sarath Fonseka petitioned the country’s highest court seeking the restoration of his 600-member strong bodyguard unit which has been slashed […]
Sri Lanka navy seizes 142 migrants: spokesman
November 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy on Tuesday seized four fishing trawlers carrying 142 illegal migrants heading for Australia, a spokesman said.The boats were detected off the island’s southern coast while they were moving eastward in the direction of Australia, navy spokesman Athula Senarath said. “The passengers had paid large sums of money […]
Emirates to launch direct flights to Tokyo
Nov 24, 2009 (LBO) – Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, said it plans to launch direct non-stop services to Tokyo from March 28 next year to lure travellers across the Middle East instead of the Pacific. The move closely follows the recent launch of operations to Durban and Luanda, the airline said in a statement. At […]
Sri Lanka dominated by India in second Test
KANPUR, November 24, 2009 (AFP) – Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir hit sparkling centuries to give India a flying start in the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka here on Tuesday. Sehwag scored 131 off 122 balls and shared 233 runs for the opening wicket with Gambhir as India reached 307-1 at tea on […]
Sri Lanka ex-military chief to run against president: party
November 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former military chief, General Sarath Fonseka, will challenge his ex-boss President Mahinda Rajapakse in upcoming elections, a key leftist opposition party announced Tuesday.The JVP, or People’s Liberation Front, which had earlier backed Rajapakse, said they secured an agreement with Fonseka, 58, to stand against Rajapakse, who on Monday […]
Sri Lanka president calls snap election
November 23, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapakse Monday announced he was calling a snap election to seek a second term, six months after his security forces defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. President Rajapakse said in a statement that he was seeking a fresh mandate after completing four years in office out of […]
Iran gained 5 billion dollars by euro switch: banker
TEHRAN, November 23, 2009 (AFP) – Iran’s central bank chief said on Monday that the country has gained five billion dollars by replacing the US dollar with the euro in its currency basket, state-owned English language Press TV reported.“Iran has considerably reduced the total of US dollars in its currency basket,” Mahmoud Bahmani said at […]
Sri Lanka rupee shows life in flexible regime
Nov 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka rupee closed weaker against the US dollar at 114.40/50 Monday after opening stronger under a more flexible exchange rate adopted by the Central Bank, dealers said. The spot dollar opened at 114.25/30 rupee levels against the greenback Monday and peaked to around 114.50/60 level in intra-day trading, dealers […]
Gold hits record high past 1,160 US dollars per ounce
HONG KONG, November 23, 2009 (AFP) – The price of gold soared to a record close of 1,166.00-1,167.00 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong on Monday as dealers moved into the safe haven commodity due to the weak greenback, analysts said. It opened at 1,158.00-1,159.00 US dollars. The precious metal was up from Friday’s […]